


Beautiful Contradictions

by _space_ginger_ (MyOTPisCuterThanYours)



Category: Durarara!!
Genre: Asexual Izaya, Coffee Shops, High School, Libraries, Literature, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Play Fighting, Raijin Days, Rating May Change, Russian Literature, Shinra Ships It, Sleepovers, Slow Burn, Stalking, Threats, atleast a little, dark humour
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-06
Updated: 2017-04-20
Packaged: 2018-09-22 07:03:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9589928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyOTPisCuterThanYours/pseuds/_space_ginger_
Summary: From the moment Shinra introduced Izaya to Shizuo they both despised each other and yet...How will anyone survive the next 3 years?





	1. Newly Found Enemies

It always smelled like antiseptics at Shinra's house. At least that applied to those visits Shizuo had paid him in the time span of their friendship and most times it also smelled like blood, either Shizuo's or the blood of the poor souls he sometimes dragged to his wannabe doctor friend after more or less unwillingly beating the living shit out of them.

 

This time he hadn't come because of a physical wound to fix. He had just been released from hospital a few hours ago. The doctor had been surprised at his fast healing process after being strucked by a truck. So no, he wasn't here for Shinra to inspect his extraordinary healing. This time he came because of Izaya Orihara, whom he had met less than 24 hours ago and who had also tried to kill him multiple times in the last 12 hours.

 

He hadn't, however, expected the damn bastard to sit there, acting like he was all-innocent, getting treated by Shinra the goddamn traitor.

 

"Izaaaaaayaaaaa... You are deaad", he had growled but the raven boy seemed unnaturally unnerved. He even grinned the bastard. "Aw but Shizuo-chan! That would be horribly _violent_ of you, don't you think?"

 

It was for the sake of Shinras flats interior that Celty was able to contain the blondes rage until Izaya finally left, after leaving one or two comments Shizuo would overhear. Otherwise he would have been willingly enough to run after the raven haired, to throw some heavy objects at him to squeeze him like the insect he was, but surely he didn't want to see his face for the rest of the day.

 

 _For the rest of my life_ , Shizuo thought, _and this isn't what I'm here for anyway_ "so... Shiinrrraaaa", he grinned at the other student wo was gulping down his words, still smiling at him like he always was. But Shinra must have noticed the twitch on Shizuo's face, the way he furrowed his eyebrows in frustration and flexed his shoulders. _It still reeks of the bastard in here_. "Why did you introduce me to this asshole?!", Shizuo honestly wanted to know, he didn't understand it, couldn't wrap his mind around it. Someone as irritating as Izaya and him... Everybody who had functioning eyes could see that those two meeting would equal playing with matches in a room soaked in gasoline. But knowing Shinra, he probably was insane enough to watch a uncrontrolled fire up close.

 

"Well, you two are my best friends after all!" Shinra cheered and Shizuo couldn't believe he just called Izaya a friend. "How can you two be friends?! He is...hhngrr", Shizuo was struggling for words, "unbearrrrable."

 

Sinra didn't lose his smile:"We went to middleschool together. I was glad I would have both of you around me in high school! I didn't know he would react on you this way. It's always a bit of a gamble with Izaya." Shizuo huffed in a sudden breath. "I don't get it. I don't want to get it.", Shizuos cheeks slightly rose with anger and embarrassment at his own thoughts. _Maybe Yes I do._ The Blonde shook his head, as if it would make the memory of this day dart out of his head to crash against the nearest wall and fall on the livingroom floor to die. "It's late, Shinra. I'm leaving.", he rushed to the door, hesitated: "Ah goodbye, Celty!" and with that he left.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

On the following day in school, Shizuo was being cautious. The bad feeling hadn't left him since yesterday. It followed him to bed and waited for him in the morning. He didn't even know if he wanted to avoid Izaya or find him already, to make him pay. But he hadn't seen him all day in class, the seat in front of him and next to Shinra always empty.

 

By the time it rang for lunch break, Shizuo allowed himself to relax. As he didn't see him in the cafeteria, Shizuo figured, Izaya must have been absent from school all day.

 

Shinra waved him over to introduce him to another one of his acquaintances. The guy didn't wear the school's uniform, just like Izaya but he had a seriousness about him, an almost grumpy expression. Shizuo decided that he liked this guy, with him being the first normal person he met in this school. Kyouhei Kadota was the name of the other student. Shizuo was so happy. _Haven't seen the bastard all day! Met someone reasonable!_ It was as if whatever gods had granted him his wish of one day in peace.

 

 

The three classmates ate mostly in silence. Shizuo drank his milk, Kadota ate his rice and Shinra was on his phone, probably texting with or _about_ his crush. Everything was peaceful until Kadota slowly raised his head and starred at something, irritated. _Do I have something on my face?_ Shizuo asked himself and finally Shinra, while continuing to grin lighthearted explained: "Oh I forget to mention... Izaya said he would join us for lunch today"

 

He hadn't even looked up from his phone but Shizuo tensed at the mention of his name and suddenly he felt the itching irritation all over his body. The alarming feeling that something was of, that something dangerous was right behind him, sharp breath hunting down his spine. He hadn't needed to turn around since Izaya suddenly appeared in the chair right next to him, quiet enough to mentally make him flinch a bit.

 

Izaya had a book hugged around his chest and used his other hand to support his head. With the way he let his fragile shoulders sag he looked like a flirtatious school girl. _Wait what_. He looked straight at Shizuo and he wondered if the dark-haired one knew it was enough to drive him insane. When he greeted them it sounded like an insult, though. "Dota-chin, Shizuo-chaaan", he lowered his eyelids and gave Shinra a side glance and an acknowledging crooked smile, without turning away from Shizuo who, by now, was starting to tighten the grip on his  chopsticks and fantasized about were to stab the boy next to him first.

 

"Are you not feeling well, Shizuo-cha -" "What the hell do you want from me?!" Shizuo roared and caught the attention of a handful of students around them. He shut his eyes and let the chopsticks land on the table, to use his hand to pinch the bridge of his nose and to rub his eyes with. _Go away, go away_ he pleaded but when he opened his eyes Izaya was still there, grinning and showing off the perfectly straight set of teeth Shizuo wanted to just kick in.

 

"Guys, guys please. Let's try to all get along" Shinra interfered and Shizuo saw pure disgust spread across the features of Izaya's face. Next he leaned back in his chair and pulled his leg up to rest his shin against the edge of the table. "I'm behaving", he stated thru high-pitched sarcasm like he didn't even try to hide the fact that he clearly was not. "Anyway...", he took a deep breath, "as I was trying to say... You want to know what I want from you? What I wanted to know, Shizu-o-chan is that..."

 

He smirked at Shizuo as he tilted his head in his direction "Are you a natural blonde?" It meant to annoy him, Shizuo knew. He obviously wasn't a natural blonde. _Can't this guy make sense for once?_

 

 

"You make me want to choke you-" Shizuo muttered to himself but everyone at the table could hear it anyway. "Woaah Shizuo-chan", Izaya staged a long inhale, "You're lucky I'm not into stuff like that or I'd be veeery turned on right now". Before speaking, Shizuo noted, he really should have thought about how his words would sound to an asshole like Izaya. Heat rose through him and his rage made him jump on his feet. Banging his fists on the table he glared at he boy under him with a murderous grin. Izaya realized it was time to run, run fast, so he threw the book he had with him at Shinra who caught it despite looking at his phone and darted to the entrance of the cafeteria. Shizuo saw the flash of black race through the mass of dark blue uniforms while Shizuo dumbed into atleast 8 people on the way ot.

 

As he finally got to the door he could he the other disappear behind a corner and quickly sprinted down the empty hallway to catch Izaya. _He is faster than he looks_ , Shizuo pants, _maybe it's because he's more aerodynamic or something._ They ran after each other for a while. Hall after hall passing Shizuo always shifted between almost catching Izaya and almost letting him get out of sight.

 

At some point the chased started to throw trash cans in the way for Shizuo to run into. _He must start getting tired._ Shizuo ran even faster and before he had realized it they were on the top floor of the school and Izaya was obviously running to the door that led to the roof. _What was he planning?_

 

He crossed the corner and saw Izaya, cursing under his uneven breath and kicking against the door that must be locked. He quickly noticed Shizuo approach and flung around, one hand hiding behind his back. Shizuo suspected the switchblade to be hidden there. The blonde came nearer regardless. "Seems like you're trapped, you flea." he grinned at the small victory. After being taken by surprise twice, it was nice to finally have the upper hand. He caught Izaya's gaze fly past him, the other obviously calculating his chance of escape as Shizuo leapt forward. The blade did indeed appear, but this time Shizuo expected it and was only brushed slightly on the arm by it as he catched hold of the smaller boys thin wrist.

 

He pulled him towards the wall behind them and Izaya tried to kick him in the guts, all playfulness vanishing from his expression as Shizuo punched him in the side and took advantage of the moment Izaya needed to catch his breath to push the hunching figure against the wall. With one hand he firmly held Izayas left thrist above his head and used his right arm to pinch the raven against the wall by his throat. What he hadn't expected was Izaya to pull out a second knife with his non-dominant hand to hold it against the side of Shizuos neck.

 

Despite being trapped Izaya still looked murderous, a knife in each hand and grinning up at him. He did a good job at looking calm but Shizuo could feel his rapid pulse press firm against his own skin. Izaya took a deep breath while scanning the teeth-clenching blonde's face. "Have I really earned being choked by you this easily? It's true what they say about blondes..." he broke off after Shizuo actually pressed down harder, making him gag. "Hurry up if you really want to do this" Izaya kept his voice low and Shizuo realized how close they were.

 

Their foreheads were almost touching and he could see for the first time see the crimson glow in the dark-haired boys eyes. They were captivating and reminded shizuo of rubies, and of blood. _I fucking hate violence._

 

The two enemies stared at eachother like a challenge. _First one to look away, first one to die_. Shizuo hadn't heard the footsteps down the hall until Izaya noted without even breaking eye contact: "Seems like we have company" Shizuo wrinkled his arm to block the boy's arm with his elbow and turned his head to see if a teacher would interrupt them.

 

It was a student who came slumping down the hall and came to an halt then he noticed what he believed to be his classmates pressed against each other in a dark corner. He recognized Heiwajima Orihara, then. Realizing this he yelped and jumped to stumble backwards, almost falling over his own feet and ran away as fast as he could.

 

"Fascinating..." Izaya mumbled and let his narrowed eyes rest on the spot the terrified student had stood on a second ago. Then he rolled his right hand out of the insecure grip and stabbed Shizuo in the left hand, making him unwillingly let go of Izaya's other hand. While Shizuo pressed his bleeding one against his shirt, smearing little blood all over himself Izaya took the chance to duck under Shizuo's arm and ran away from the corner. He almost caught the damn flea by the jacket but the other was again, faster than he would have expected.

 


	2. Il dolce e l'amaro

Izaya didn't mind that Shinra was late, as he was most times. They were actually supposed to meet in front of the Starbucks at the corner exactly 15 minutes ago. The little patience Izaya possessed made him able to wait approximately four minutes before he entered the stuffed and brightly illuminated coffee shop on his own. He sat down on those polished light beige couches that sat to low and judged the store's beige-green color scheme as he watched his surroundings without even ordering something.  
  
For 7 minutes now Izaya had carefully observed a couple sitting three tables away. The anxious young man nervously shifted in his seat, while the girl sitting across from him chatted rather loudly. Until now, he had tried not to stare too much at anything in particular but it really was the most interesting thing happening right now. _Fuck obtrusiveness_ , he leaned forward, tapped his pen on his notebook and waited for something interesting to happen, wished for the guy to ask his question or to make his confession or do whatever he was so embarrassingly obvious about. _Is he going to break up?_ Izaya sure hoped so and bounced on his seat. That would get quite the reaction out of her. Would he get to see her laugh falter, her pretty face fall into a thrown? Maybe she would even shout at him a bit.  
  
"Izaaya, there you are.", the sudden call of his name made him jump, still he somehow succeeded to cover up his surprise by leaning into the motion to sit up straight. "You're a shit friend, Shinra." Izaya stated and noticed that the other boy wore the school uniform despite it being Saturday. "A good... no, wait... a TRUE friend would never abandon a buddy to sit alone in public like this." Izaya leaned back, making a show out of blandly looking across the room.  
  
"Ha, I thought you liked being surrounded by peop-", he almost expected Shinra to make silly assumptions again. "Humans, yes.", he hissed as the other took a seat next to him. "Still, you have to work on your punctuality." Instead of responding, Shinra eyed him weirdly and pulled something out of his bag Izaya recognized as the book he had naturally and out of desperation thrown at Shinra three days ago. "Thought I would bring it with me today. Since you've been skipping school for daaays now and I had no chance to see you." despite his smile, there was a subtle bite in his voice but Izaya pretended he didn't even hear it.  
  
He was instead looking at the dramatic-looking soft cover on the table in front of his. He thought about how it was the only book he currently was reading that he wasn't able to find in the school library's very, very small collection of western literature translated to japanese. Izaya really would have been pissed if he had gotten any blood or something on the copy he owned personally.  
  
He wondered whether Shinra read the description on the back or not. It's not that he cared, he thought to himself but Izaya never took the other as the type to like non-fictional. "It's not a romantic novel, if you've wondered... It's a play that satirizes the morals of society." he spoke enthusiastic and waved his hand around even more so. "About Moral Dilemmas?", Shinra asks in his usual indifferent way, while squinting at the menu behind them. "Not necessarily! But every well-written character has some moral issues that make them interesting, don't you think?" Izaya waited for an answer but the brunet just kept blinking at the board with all the complicated drinks listed.  
  
"Shizuo?", Shinra muttered with a confused expression and for a millisecond Izaya held his breath. "Please, I don't think a monster can have any kind of moral. Actually, I'm a 100% sure of that Shizuo-chan hasn't even made it to the third stage of moral development, which is at preteen age, for your information, and as a fact-" A sound like a small laugh escaped Shinra as he looked at Izaya, who was babbling with his arms crossed. "Christ, Izaya. Look", Shinra nodded towards the over side of the store, "He works here. That's what I meant." He what?  
  
A certain fake blonde was indeed present, fumbling at a coffee maker, ugly apron in that disgusting shade of green on and Izaya swore he could see him cursing. _That awful green bites with yellow_ , then Shinra heard Izaya mumble something about 'who's invading whose territory now' before he left the boy with the glasses alone to passive aggressively stand in the queue. He watched in horror as Shizuo finally turned around to spot Izaya, leaning against the counter while playing with the sugar packages they gave away for free.  
  
"What are you doing here?!" the blonde growled low, angry but put together enough it seemed like he really did not want to lose this job on the very first day. Especially because of the bastard flee. "Can't I pay a visit to a good friends friend of mine?" _What?_ " It was easy to find out where you work, so I came to see you.", he lied and grinned at Shizuo's glenched fists. "What. The Fuck. Flee. I have literally been working here for half an hour." _oops_ , Izaya mentally slapped himself, _how high are the fucking chances, anyway? Didn't intend to look like a massive creep..._  
  
"Was just a joke, Shizuo-chan. Haha, just take my order, would you? Coffee, black, no sugar and uhm..." he had forgotten to ask Shinra what he even wanted. "And a recommendation of the barista, I guess. Let's hope you don't fulfill my expectations of your shitty tastes, then."  
  
That bastard will never make any sense to me, Shizuo thought while preparing the drinks. Shizuo tried to zone out Izaya pretty bad, who was talking more to himself anyway, about something regarding Kishitani being a more tea-person or not. "Shinra with you, huh?" he asked but had already spotted him sitting nearby the window and opened the sharpie with his teeth to write the name on the cup. _Stupid Shizuo-chan forgot to ask if we wanted it to-go at all. Is he really wasting natural resources just to subtle let me know I'm unwanted here and should leave? Nah, probably not._  
  
"Here. Now get out of my sight.", he watched Izaya skip back to the table, uncharacteristic not saying another word to him. _I really need a smoke break_

  
  
The moment Izaya sat down and placed whatever the fuck Shizuo mixed together in front of Shinra, the other guy just snorted. Izaya had an exceptionally displeased expression, at which Shinra laughed even more. He sipped at the bitter but too hot liquid and waited for Shinra to calm down. "What is it? What's so funny?", he sounded more annoyed than he intended to be but Shinra didn't mind. He pointed at the scribbling on Izayas cup that Izaya hadn't bothered reading yet. It just said: 'Extra bitter, for a bitter guy :)' in messy handwriting. _Sarcasm_  "Haha, sure", he chuckled and at the same time was beginning to feel sick of hatred and frustration. "Shinra, we are moving our study sessions to this table in particular, in this very coffee shop.", he casually stated and kept drinking, even though it burned his tongue.

 

* * *

 

  
  
_This was a bad idea_ , Izaya thought as his alarm clock ripped him out of his thought process. Yawning, he walked over to where the ringing sound was coming from to shut the device off. Izaya knew the alarm are supposed to wake him in the morning not let him know it was time to stop surfing the web all night long to go to school. But still he'd rather spent the whole night sitting in front of his laptop, surfing the web, watching movies and even starting on an English essay he hadn't planned to write at first.

_'s not like I would have slept enough anyway but still..._ " Not a good idea.", he groans and changes his clothes from a black shirt to a slightly less dark red one with long sleeves. Ignoring the dizziness and the blur in his vision, Izaya opened his bedroom door to cross the hallway, lift his arm lazily and: "TIME TO WAKE", he bangs his fist on his sisters' bedroom door "UP." He does so until he hears something bumb against the wooden door from the inside. Alright, done.  
  
Now he only had to help his sisters get ready for school, which included making breakfast, fighting with Mairu over bringing a lighter to school and finally rushing them out of the house, to drop them off at school just in time, and then hurry to get there for the first period.

  
  
Except he skipped the first period, because he couldn't care less about math on a Monday morning. He would just do Shinras homework for him or whatever. But that teacher, he was sure of, that teacher is a psychopath. Instead of going to class after going to his locker like most students wold, he found himself sneaking into the library. The old lady who worked there wouldn't give him any trouble for it but still you could never be sure enough.

Izaya had always loved libraries. They lacked humans or any action on that matter whatsoever but all that knowledge compressed into a single place, easy for him to access. He would never know a more wonderful way to let the days of his youth pass. He thought about his other classmates. None of them were what Izaya would call stupid, besides Shizuo-chan ofcourse. Most chairs in the library were arranged in large  numbers around one table to look more social, he thought as he passed them to make himself comfortable on a long couche, taking up all the space, since there wouldn't be students around to complain. _I will have to try to get rid of Shizuo-chan_ , Izaya yawns once again and opens his text book.

  
  
It took Izaya less than 40 minutes to fall asleep over almost 400 pages of 'Russian Grammar - From Beginner to Advanced', only to be woken by the faint sound of the school bell ringing. "Ah, grammar really can put anyone to sleep it seems", he grabs his papers, then quickly escapes the familiar scent of new books (that he loves) and overly borrowed ones (that he found interesting but also couldn't bear for too long). He took his time to get to the class room, not wanting anyone to address him with stupid question. Even after taking a power nap he wasn't yet ready to deal with people. What subject is even next, a quick look at the clock... "Social studies!", a few older students stared at him for the sudden but he didn't care because it was the first interesting class since the year started and izaya didn't want to miss the first lesson.

 

* * *

 

  
  
"For the first 6 weeks of thing course you will be working on projects", the teacher had the raw voice of a chain smoker and looked like a perfect personification of terminal illness and for the second time in a day Izaya had thought that his teachers seemed psychotic. What is it with this school that makes them this way? "You will work in pairs of two... Now listen, I will explain this once, not twice but once and one time only." Then why the fuck is he talking SO much. "I will be the one to sort you into groups and I will choose the subject of each of these groups. There is...", the man choked on a cough, "no use... fighting over this. You won't however use any of the time in class because I will still have to get you through the list of main topics..." Izaya turned around to see what Shizuo-chan was doing. He mostly hadn't reacted to him entering the room, probably accepting the fact that they are forced to spent time here. So he won't lash out until provoked, eh? Shizuo-chan was staring out the window peacefully before he noticed Izaya observe him, so he shot him a glace but the bastard only grinned wider at him. Shizuo still has to get used to his grimace, it made him look like he was imaging perverted things. He couldn't help but suspect that this Satan reincarnation of a boy was planning something. "... also a topic you can look forwards to is economic changes in eastern Asia..." "Quit staring at me, Izaaya", Shizuo hissed but the old man had better hearing than he would have thought. "Ah, I see. You two will be the first group since you seem to like each other so much you have to interrupt my lesson.", he spat and Izaya put on the slimy teachers pet expression he had mastered. But this one wouldn't even give him a chance to talk himself out of it, "I won't hear another word!"

_Oh, I hate Shizuo-chan for this_. "And Orihara... since all the teachers speak so highly of you I'm sure your group won't mind some extra work" _Have I pissed off someone this sour old man knows without realizing?_ Izaya's expression shifted somewhat between confusion, anger (because his pride was as fragile as his ego, that he could admit to himself) and amusement, mostly because he could feel Shizuo's angry stare on his back. And if looks could kill Izaya would run for his life right now. _Stupid flea_ , the blonde hated feeling this way, _another thing you're making me hate you for._

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *The first book Izaya is reading is Lady Windermere's Fan by Oscar Wilde  
> **The chapter title is Italian for 'The Sweet and the Bitter' which is an Italian crime film (haven't seen it though)  
> ***The whole works title refers to a south african short film (that I haven't seen too lmao)


	3. I want to annoy And I'm going to enjoy it

"What are we supposed to do again?", the blonde tried his best to sound as neutral as possible, at least for the sake of not throwing everything his mother had taught him about manners out of the window. "Are you being serious now?", Izaya sounded more smug than he needed to be on purpose but Shizuo decided not to comment on it. The annoying pest gracefully sat down across from Shizuo with his chair directed in an awkward position which couldn't have been very confortable but it wasn't like Shizuo gave a fuck. It only mildly annoyed him how Izaya managed to act superior in any situation even when he wasn't. _Clearl_ y.

Looking around, Shizuo could see that their classmates had already started discussions of some sort. He really should have listened to the teacher but concentrating was getting harder each minute, annoyance heating up his face, it made his temple pulse. "We", the scumbag dared to put that smirk on again, "are supposed to think of a topic for our project but don't you worry your pretty blonde head because I will do the thinking-part for both of us so you don't have to get frustrated and go berserk-"

 

"You're the only damn thing that is pissing me off.", Shizuo hastily retorted and Izaya grinned even harder than before while leaning towards him across the desk. "That would be a blatant lie.", he dragged the words out and the other pressed his spine against the back of the chair, catching the scent of Izaya`s hair, which reeked strangely intense and unusually sweet for a boy their age. _Disgusting_.

"Anyway...", he hadn't noticed that the bastard had snatched his textbook from him despite having his own. _He couldn't be serious about not letting me do anything..._ The bastard was going through the register of it to pick some stupid topic for their stupid project, Shizuo presumed. _Whatever_ , he thought as he stared at the black strands of hair in front of him with his head supported by his head, _it's not like I give a fuck about this. Let him choose. Whatever. It's boring anyway_. "How would you find 'The Japanese-Soviet Neutrality Pact: A Diplomatic History, 1941-45' as our topic?"

 _I hate this subject already_ , "That sounds fucking boring. You can't bullshit me into thinking that's the least shitty thing in there." Shizuo demonstratively pointed at the book that was actually his, his and not Izaya's but the dumbass just kept looking through it.

 

"Okay... Well, then how about a presentation of anthologies of travels, no? Let's say... Russian views of Japan, such as." _The flea sounds too excited for this_ , wordlessly the owner of the book pulled his belongings away from the other's side of the small desk and took a look at the pages for himself. "This is full of economy bullshit... How did you even come up with your shitty ideas?". The pout on the guys face was there in an instant, which was unbelievable for Shizuo, he felt like dealing with a child. A very difficult child. "You hurt me, Shizuo-chan. All I'm trying to do is think of something that sparks my interest. Someone has to do it after all...", and with that the fake pout was replaced by his insult-grin #2 ,"we can't really write a paper inspired by your hobbies since all your interests include destroying stuff, fighting people and hurting my feelings."

 

"Hurting your- What?", he hated that the flea could irritate him so easily but frowned at the pest instead of punching him in the face, just to prove him wrong. Then he huffed, "Pfft, I didn't even know you were capable of feeling, flea.", he joked, proud of himself for not lashing out again but the dark-haired boy seemed unimpressed by his comeback. There was a moment of silent that wasn't as long as Shizuo would like it to be.

"I'm booored, Shizuo-chan." No reaction. Shizuo stared at the other like he wanted to say _that's not my problem_ but otherwise just kept ignoring him. _This is fair. If he wants to act like a child, I'll treat him like one._ He watched the branches of the tree outside instead, thinking about lunch and what he would do before he had to go to work later until he was torn out of his thoughts. "I think I'm leaving." Izaya announced an, picked up his bag from under the desk and with a quick glance at the clock he stood up. Shizuo followed the movement of his head, realizing that the lesson wouldn't end for another 20 minutes. "Oi, you aren't going to leave now.", he protested but his so-called partner was already out of his seat and was about to just turn around and leave the classroom. "This isn't going anywhere and I have better things to do" _This stubborn, irritating, selfish son of a bitch..._

 

Both of them were suddenly aware of the scene they were making when the teacher began to cough after swallowing the words: "Do we have an issue- ugh, Orihara?" Nothing could describe his feelings better than the way the teacher choked out his enemy's name like it left a bitter taste when you said it, Shizuo thought.

Said pest made a small bow, which coming from him could only been taken as mocking or a taunt and smirked at the adult he was supposed to respect with his insulting-smile #1, which was a lot more cheeky and less smug and self-satisfied than the one he had reserved for Shizuo. "If you have a problem, please feel free to contract my mother.", saving the proper honorifics, he instead bounced around the teacher's desk towards the door and with his hand already on the door handle he spun around, "See you later, Shizuo-chan!", he cheered and waved his arm around like they were actual friends and with that he disappeared out of the classroom.

 

 

* * *

 

 

"You're being shady, Orihara-kun. It makes me wonder what you're saying about me while I'm not around." Shinra didn't have to look up from his phone to know his friend would laugh at this, hysterical even. It was almost contagious enough to make him grin, too, but Izaya quickly recovered from his tiny outburst. "We both know that's not the same thing. You may be psychotic but you're my friend. Shizuo-chan is a monster and I hate him." Shinra glanced one last time at the photo he had taken of his beloved soul mate without her notice this morning and put his phone back in his pocket. His hands were cold from the brisk april air as a result of them being outside of his flat on the balcony, mostly because Izaya insisted on not staying inside for too long. Shinra, who didn't want to be parted from Celty's presence for too long saw this as their way of compromising. Izaya must be shivering, he thought, not having a jacket on and all. Shinra had to raise his head a bit to look at Izaya directly, with the latter sitting on the railing of the balcony, instead of taking a seat next to the brunet like a normal person would. Though, they both trusted his abilities enough to not worry about him falling down more than 20 stories into certain death.

 

"I just can't relate to him at all. How can you decide after less than a 5 minute encounter that you don't like someone?! It goes beyond me." Shinra chuckled at the thought that Izaya had made it approximately 20 minutes into hanging out together before he started talking about their mutual friend again. "He was probably just in a bad mood or something", he had told the darker-haired boy a dozen times before, lacking a better explanation to amuse him with. "That's not it. He's made it clear enough that he doesn't like me.", the bitterness in his voice caught the brunets attention but the other wouldn't look at him when Shinra looked up to him. Grinning he offered: "I could try to help you making Shizuo like you. But with your awful personality it will take a little while until he can tolerate you but I'm positive my experience with love will make this easy enough."

Izaya glanced at him malicious but it couldn't stop the grin forming on his lips. "I don't need humans to like me, Shinra. Especially not a beast. I'm not suicidal, after all." _Says the one who's risking his ass to look cool in any given situation_ , he doesn't have to say it out loud. The raven must know what he's thinking judged by the looks he's giving him. "You must know that your argument is invalid, right?", he doesn't know where the need to provoke Izaya is coming from all of a sudden but his two best friends bickering because of each other is starting to become amusing to him, so he can't stop and he won't stop.

 

"When you say you don't need to be liked by any human in particular and by claiming Shizuo to be inhuman and a monster...", he began but was interrupted by Izaya imitating what Shinra interpreted as Shizuo-typical angry growling noises. Rolling his eyes, he continued: "You're being painfully obvious today. Really, even more than usual." Izaya leaned dangerously far behind, Shinra laid his left hand gently on the others ankle, trying not to scare him, just in case. "Good thing it's only you who's seeing me in this vulnerable state, isn't it?", he joked but it sounded like opening up to the bespectacled. It always made him feel so proud of himself, every time he understood a little more about his best friends coping mechanism ridden mind. Now he understood for what reason the other came over right after school in the first place. He obviously needed distraction, so Shinra provided it for him. That's what Celty would tell him to do if he asked, he believed.

 

"I haven't told you about Celty rejecting my request this morning, have I? Oh no, I haven't. It was like this...Now, where do I start? First I asked her if she had plans for the weekend and she said 'no'.", putting emphasis on the word 'no' to express his suffering to his friend he continued: "So I am like 'You want to do something with me, then?' and when she said she was busy. She changed her mind so fast! It hurt but I will just ask her again next week, I guess." The boy above him turned his head away from the sight he had of the city and slightly nodded at the brunet. The smile he put on looked a lot less sad than the ones before and Shinra let go of his grip on Izaya's leg. "Maybe you should surprise her with more spontaneous plans, next time. It will be hard declining that.", the raven continued to look down on him, no teasing smirk present this time. "Thanks, Izaya. I will try it next time."

 

For the following 2 hours Shinra kept on rambling and Izaya listened until Izaya started rambling for Shinra to listen and so it went on and on until the sun started to hang lowly on the sky above Tokyo's skyline.

 

"I gotta get going, Shinra. Thank you for having me", the raven-haired teased while putting on his shoes at the door Shinra was holding open for him to leave. "Yeah, yeah. Just don't come over tomorrow.", he considered adding, "...unless it is an emergency. Kadota's coming over and Shizuo might drop by, too." This made Izaya slightly stop in his action, which wasn't unnoticed by Shinra ofcourse. "We'll see about that", the other responded and came up to his feet. He gave the brunet a small pad on the shoulder before leaving the flat for Shinra to be by himself again. He took his phone out of his pocket and began to type a small text to Kadota, asking him if he was interested in helping him out with planning a small party. They all needed to let out some steam. Then he proceeded to call Shizuo, knowing it will take a little more effort to persuade the blonde into taking part in his idea.

 

He mostly heard noises from Shizuos side as he explained his plans to him. "...and my father would be gone the entire weekend. Celty, too, sadly but it will give us some space. Are you listening, Shizuo?" All he got from the other side was and mostly approving grunt, which was good enough for Shinra, so he continued. "So what do you say? I would really appreciate you coming. I don't have any other friends to ask and I'm sure you won't be busy on a saturday night, either." Then came the first real thing he heart Shizuo say since their conversation started: "Fuck you, Shinra." _Oh, well._ "Was that an answer to my question or a retort to my indication of you being alone on saturday nights?", Shinra wondered and fiddled with his own brown strands of hair. "No I don't want to come over to your house, Shinra. I don't want to wake up in a bathtub full of ice, too.", Shizuo growled through the line and could hear an offended huff from the other side of the phone call. With his phone pinched between his shoulder and neck, the blonde let his tense back hit the soft of his mattress. He had just come back from work and was beyond exhausted. Today was just too much and now this. In another part of the city the brunet strolled through his own apartment and waited for the blonde to answer properly. Then Shizuo decided to add: "...with my organs missing."

"Oh come on. Like I would do something like that when Kadota is coming, too. That would just be rude.", he joked and it was meant to lighten the mood but Shizuo sounded even more irritated. "I don't need to see the flea more often than I already have to. That counts for the both of you." Shizuo was certain the other was smiling right now, could imaging it clearly and it almost made him feel guilty enough to give in. Since when did he become the person to ditch his own friends so easily?

"But I thought" _Oh no he won't_ , Shizuo closed his eyes and sighed, emptying his lungs, dreading the words that were about to come out of Shinra's mouth. "I thought we were friends." _God damn it Shinra, guilt tripping him like this_ "Alright, I'll come over to your dumb sleepover but don't expect me to act civil if Izaya tries to mess with me. And if I break something it's your own fault, so you've been warned." Shinra yelped and cheered into the phone: "Understood! See you tomorrow in school!" and with that he hung up on him, faster than Shizuo could tell him to just fuck off. _What have I gotten myself into?_

 


End file.
